5 Ingredients: Lindsey Fine's BBQ Tofu Skins

5 Ingredients, an Urban Family series where we sit down with a Shanghai-based chef and ask for a family-friendly meal using 5 Ingredients easily found in Shanghai; let us help you start the week with a simple five-step recipe!

This week we talked to LindseyFine the owner of vegetarian restaurant Happy Buddha, and mother to Sam (aged 3) and Max (aged 10 months). Around 10 years ago, after she converted to being a vegetarian, Lindsey became obsessed with cooking. While living in Hawaii and still wanting to enjoy her favorite foods, she started experimenting with non-vegetarian recipes, finding a way to make them vegetarian. Her driving force is to show the world that plant-based meals can be filling and delicious, and that they can also satisfy the whole family. Her two boys and husband are also vegetarian!

What dish are you helping us prepare this week?

My BBQ tofu skins with ta cai and roasted sweet potato is a simple and heathy weekday meal. I love going to the vegetable section of the wet market to pick up these ingredients. The vibrant colors and seasonal produce are a feast for the eyes. It’s also super affordable! I really love using the different types of tofu you can find at the markets. The various tastes and textures are amazing and I think it’s so inventive what the Chinese have done with the humble soybean. This meal incorporates a cold weather favorite of mine, sweet potato, as well as ta cai, another seasonal vegetable I find interesting with its dark leafy stalks, you know it’s going to be good for you! And to top it off, we’re baking BBQ rolled tofu skin, as it’s got a great look and texture so it’s appealing to both vegetarians and non-vegetarians.

What five ingredients do we need?

1 cup BBQ sauce

500 grams rolled tofu skin

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into large pieces

3 bunches of ta cai, washed and separated

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

What is the five-step recipe?

Preheat the oven to 230 degrees Celsius

1. Lather the rolled tofu pieces in the BBQ sauce and spread on a baking tray lined with baking paper or foil.

2. Add the sweet potato pieces to the tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Place the tray into the preheated oven and bake - tofu skins for 10 minutes and sweet potatoes for 20 minutes, or until desired tenderness is reached, stirring once or twice.

4. Add the garlic and approximately half a tablespoon of olive oil or water to a pan and sauté over medium heat until fragrant, then add the ta cai. Cook for approximately 4 minutes, making sure it doesn't over cook.

5. Mash the sweet potatoes lightly with a fork, then place on a plate, topped with the ta cai and finally add the BBQ tofu skins on top.

What's your advice on your dish of the week?

If you’re feeding this to non-vegetarians don’t even mention it’s meat free. The presentation will entice them to try it, and once they do they will be pleasantly surprised. This dish is also extremely filling!

Tell us something that’s happening in your restaurant at the moment, that our Urban Family community can enjoy.

At Happy Buddha, we’re really excited about our move to the ground floor of our current location. We’ll be swapping spaces with Sprout Lifestyle’s retail section to bring you a welcoming and cozy place to enjoy delicious, healthy and affordable food in the heart of one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city.

We will also be going 100 percent plant based and we are sure you’ll still love every bite. Be on the lookout for our new menu items and drinks coming soon.